Chapter 570 - New Tomorrow (I) (1/2)
CHAPTER 570
NEW TOMORROW (I)
Seya was currently enjoying the seaside breeze, her legs dangling off the tall cliff overlooking the violent and maddening ocean as it clashed against the thick rocky side. The day was beautiful, with the clear, blue sky and the golden sun overhead giving way to another perfect midsummer day.
She could hear the distant chirping of the birds and even songs of the dolphins just a few hundred meters away from the jagged shore, to say nothing of the swaths forming into black clouds in the sky that she couldn't hear. She had cut her hair short, strands dangling barely to the side, though had otherwise remained largely the same in appearance, if only growing a shade darker.
Even while wearing nothing but a loose, tank top without undergarments beneath and the cut trousers she had shortened to the midway point of her thighs, she still felt rather hot, droplets of sweat occasionally forming on her temples, trickling down the side of her face. It was early in the morning, the morning of a big day, though it would hard to say so from her expression.
”Oi, why didn't you wake me up!!” a hurried and panicked voice called out to her from behind as she turned around only to see a topless man pointing at her and running, his hair a disheveled mess, eyes fuming in anger. ”I told you specifically to wake me up the moment you wake up!”
”Oops. I forgot.” She shrugged with a smile, getting up and dusting her behind. ”You slept well?”
”—well, yeah, I did—but that's beside the point! We're gonna be late!” he exclaimed. ”And look at you,” he growled, walking up to her and suddenly beginning to straighten her hair. ”You should have gotten ready by now! Did you even take a bath? I've left out the dress for you right beside the bed, you couldn't have missed it!”
”Oi, relax,” Seya laughed for a moment, grabbing the sides of his face and pressing her forehead against his. ”We won't be late. Besides, if you weren't freaking out about it, I wouldn't even be going…”
”How can you not go?!” Avar's dark skin suddenly paled twelve shades, an expression of horror surfacing on his face. ”It's—it's one of the most important days for the Empire! The Empire, by the way, that you're a f.u.c.k.i.n.g Earl of!”
”Eh,” Seya shrugged, stretching and yawning lazily. ”It's just a kid taking the throne. Nothing's gonna change.”
”… did… did you just call Princess—no, Empress Aaria a kid?”
”I believe I have,” Seya chuckled, hugging her arm around his shoulder and dragging him back down the slope toward their small mansion. ”You gotta learn not to always be walking on the road of needles and swords. Your panic attacks are starting to stick to the kids, idiot. What if they grow up neurotic messes that forget how to breathe each time something mildly out of the comfort zone happens?”
”… I—ah, I know…” Avar sighed, his shoulders slumping. ”But, you've worked hard to get to where we're now, Seya. I… I just want to ensure it stays this way.”
”… what? You wouldn't want to be with me if I suddenly became a wandering commoner again?” she asked, grinning.
”Eh, at least it would afford me an opportunity to make you a Queen of my own strength,” Avar grinned back. ”Nonetheless, this is a rare occasion when pretty much all of our friends will trickle to one place. It's worth going just for that, no?”
”Hah, I guess,” Seya said. ”I haven't shared a drink with some of those f.u.c.ks in quite some time.”
”Ah, Lord Avar! Lord Seya!” the two were interrupted on their way down by a small entourage, a peddler cutting across the field with a couple of toddlers and some sheep in tow. ”It looks like the world itself knows the importance of today, with the sun beaming down on us so warmly!”
”It sure does, Martin,” Seya chuckled, glancing at the two toddlers hiding behind the old man's legs, peaking out. ”They're growing up quite healthy, eh?”
”Ah, blasted children are too shy,” the man, Martin, replied with a sigh. ”I wish they'd look up to Lord Savar and Lady Eos…”
”Eh? What did those two misfits do now?” Seya asked.
”They organized a full competition for cross-country running!” Martin exclaimed, a trace of awe present in his voice. ”Can you believe it? With rewards, rest points, and all! Then the two won the first three places! They really are miraculous children…”
”They do take after their mom more than me, I'm afraid.” Avar chuckled faintly as Seya sighed, rolling her eyes.
”All for the better; forgive me, Lord Avar, but you can hardly match the Lady.” Martin said.
”That is true,” Avar nodded. ”Be on your way then; come visit us when you get some more of that fish from the last time. It was quite delicious.”
”Will do! Best of the day to you, Lord, Lady!”
Avar and Seya watched the peddler urge the two toddlers and the sheep as he continued on cutting the plains. The two, too, resumed their descent, hand in hand, anxiety from before seemingly vanished completely.
”… I wonder if Hannah will come.” Seya mumbled after they got close to the mansion without walls and the one with the front doors perennially open. People streamed in and out all the time, each individually greeting the two as they passed them by.
”From what I heard, she returned briefly two years ago,” Avar replied. ”But, her visits have grown less and less frequent.”
”… could you endure it?” she asked him. ”If I left like her, I mean.”
”No. I'd have killed myself.”